Pressure-responsive instrument for flow meters and the like



Jan. 5 1926.

F. P. COX

PRESSURE RESPONSIVE INSTRUMENT FOR FLOW METERS AND THE LIKE Filed March 5, 1923 Inventor Han/f /D. COX

To all whom t may concern:

Patented Jan. s, 192s.

untreu FRANK P C, 0F LYNN, EASSGEUSETS, ASSIGNOE T@ GENERAL ELECTRIC CGM i PANY, A GGEPORAVIMGN @F NEW YQBE,

PRESSRE-RESPNS INSTRUHENT FR FLW METERS AND 2HE LEE.

Application med Haren t," Seniat lo. t.

Be it known that I, Frans. i?. Cox, citi- ,zen of the United States, residing at Lynn,

county of Essex, State of Massachusetts, have Jinvented certain-new and useui Einiprovements in .Pressure-Responsive instruments for Flow Meters and theliire, of which the following' is a speciication..

Ylhe present invention relates to instruments which. are responsive to pressure or pressure dierence and are used to indicate, indicate and record, or indicate', record and integrate a pressure or pressure did'ercnce either in .terms of pressure or pressure ditn ference or in terms of some quantity which is a function of or bears a dierentA relationA to apressure or a pressure dierence. Itvrelates more particuiarly to instruments of the electrical resistance type 'wherein the ressure to be measured moves a cciunin ci' iquid which in turn functions to increase and decrease the electrical resistances an indicating circuit.. @ne use ci my ii-aven tion is in connection with dovv meters for measuring the iiovv of fiuid in conduits and it is this use-Which l have chosen to iiiustrate and describe in this application. will be understood, however, 'that nay invention is not necessarily limited to this particular use.

The object ci my invention is 'to provide p an improved construction and arrangement in an mstruinent ot this character, and tor a consideration of what i believe 4to he novel.

and my invention, attention is directed to the ioliovving description and the claires appended thereto.

ln the drawing, Fig. `Si is a sectionai vievv of au instrument embodying inyinvention; Figs. 2, 3 and i are perspective vievfs oi elements used in building up one leg ci the instrument, and Fig. 5 is top plan view oi one leg with the top plate removed.

Referring to the drawing, i0 indicates base containing a Well l?. which forms one leg of a U-tube and a passage l2. which ccnnects' well l1 with the other leg ci the U- tube which is indicated generally hy the reif-- erence numerai 13.; Weil li is closed the top bya suitable cover piste le.; lin weil-lli is a quantity of indicating liquid i5 such as mercury. 16 indicates a vconduit through y [which 'the `fluid to be measured dous. Ar-

ranged in conduit 16 is a. pressure diderence creating device wlnchcreates a pressure (difference `which hears a detinite relation to .ci which is Weil understood. At Zero iiovv the liquid l5 stands at the same levei. in both legs ci the Utuhe. When flow takes place in conduit l@ there is created loy device l? a pressure diii'erence which causes the liquid in veli 1i to he ioivered and that in leg i3 to he raised, the delection of the liquid lueing proportional the rate of 'lcw.

My invention relates more particularly to the construction of the ieg 13 of the lll-tube., and-according thereto i form the leg i3 ci? cries ci alternate insulatingr disks 2G and conducting disks 21:: 'ihcse are stacked one en 'top of another, the lowerrnost disk resting on a flat surface 22 formed on base i0. @n top` of the stach of disks is a top piste 28 held in place Toy a series ci? posts 2a. B screwing down the nuts 25 on the upper en of posts 245;, the disks 20 and 2l are squeezedA down tightiy together to term in substance asoiid leak-proof structure which provides a vertical chamber 26. Trailing pressure pipe i9 communicates with chamber Mi through an opening in the top piate 23B l @utside ieg i3 is an electrica-l resistance 2'? which is connected at spaced intervais to conducting disks 2l. The resistance located between each pair of adjacent disks 2i. nea, have any suitable value in accordance tvitgi the use to which the instrument is to he put. if they have equal value, then 'equal incren' nient-s in the rise off mercury in charnher 2d will cause equal changes in the rate of ovv oi current through the electrica-i resistance., in the case ci a dow meter Where it is de-z sired to integrate the dow ley means of wattliour meter, the resistance between the respective disks 2i must gradually decrease in amount from the lower end to the upper end oi" the leg since as is weli known the ressure dierence created by a pressure iderence creating device varies with the square ci' the dow through the conduit.,

Connected to resistanf is an electrical circuit 28 -which includes measuring instruments in the form of a watthour meter 29, and indicating ammeter 30 and a curved drawing amineter 31. Circuit 28 is connected on one side to the upper end of resistance 27, the other side being grounded on base 10 as indicated at 32. Circuit 28 may be connected with any suitable source of electrical potential, a transformer 33 being indicated in the present instance. In the present instance it is intended that the resistances between disks2l are of such values that changes in current flow in the circuit will be directly proportional to the changes in the flow of fluid being metered.

It is usually desirable that the distance from one disk 21 to the next disk 21 be small in order to make the instrument sensitive to slight deflection of the mercury. This means, of course, that the insulating disks 20 Y are comparatively thin and unless care is exercised difficulty may be met with due to adjacent disks becoming connected to each other during 1the construction of the device, or subsequently connected. To avoid this disks 21 may with advantage be provided with arcuate cut away portions 34 which are filled in withl insulating members 35 as shown in Fig. 3 so that each disk 21 presents only a short length 36 to the surface of Well or chamber 26. The short length 36 of successive disks 21 are then staggered around well or chamber 26 relatively to each other. This serves to increase the distance between the portions of disks 21 exposed for contact with the li uid column in leg 13.

At zero ow the level of liquid in leg 13 standsjust below the lowermost disk 21 so that the indicating circuit is open and the measuring instruments read zero. Now when flow takes place through circuit 16.

' the pressure difference creating device will create a pressure difference which will eiect a lowering of the level of liquid in Well 11 and a rising of the level in leg 13. As soon as the liquid engages the exposed surface of the lowermost disk 21, the circuit is closed. through the total resistance 27. and then as the liquid continues to rise resistance will be cut from the circuit step by step as the liquid engages Isuccessive disks 21. The flow of current in the circuit will thus increase with the rise of the liquid in leg 13. The Ineasuring instruments may be calibrated to read directly in terms of flow of fluid through conduit 16, or in suitable terms which may be converted into terms of such flow.

lVith the above described arrangement the electrical resistance is arranged entirely outside the instrument where it is readily accessible for adjustment and Where it is not exposed to action of the indicating liquid or to high temperatures or pressures such as are met with, for example, in metering high pressure steam. Disks 21 can be arranged to expose a large surface for contact with the liquid so that good electrical connection between the conducting liquid and the disks is obtained. In addition, the arrangement is simple in structure, easy to manufacture, and can be readily made pressure tight.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, I have described the principle of operation of my invention, together` with the apparatus which I now consider to represent the best embodiment thereof, but I desire to have it understood that the apparatus shown is only illustrative and that the invention may be carried out bv other means.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

l. A device of the character described. comprising a wall which defines a chamber, and a conducting liquid in the chamber, at least a portion of said wall comprising a plurality of conducting and non-conducting elements stacked one on another, said elements having inner and outer edges, only a portion of the inner edges of the conducting elements being exposed to the inner surface of said wall. and such exposed portions being staggered relatively to each other.

2. A device of the character described` comprising a chamber adapted to contain a conducting liquid, said chamber having a wall formed of a stack of conducting and non-conducting annular disks, a portion only of the inner edge of each conducting disk being exposed at the inner surface of said wall, and the exposed portions of successive conducting disks being staggered relatively to each other.

3. In a device of the character described. the combination of a base, conducting and non-conducting annular disks stacked on said base to form a chamber adapted to contain a conducting liquid, said conducting disks being provided with segmental recesses at their inner edges, and filler members of .insulating material located in said recesses.

the projections remaining as a result of the segmental recesses being staggered relatively to each other.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 2T day of F ebruarv, 1923. FRANK P. COX.

losr 

